What Is Marriage? is clear, tightly reasoned, and a remarkably fast read for a dense philosophical argument. It should be instantly recognized as the leading statement of the case against same-sex marriage. But is it right?

A Partisan Abuse of the Church’s Moral Teachings

After I published a piece on Alison's suggestion that Benedict XVI was preparing for a change in church teaching on homosexuality, the theologian sent me a kind note. So began an exchange that led to this interview. Wouldn't it be interesting for him to be interviewed by someone like me—sympathetic to the plight of gay Catholics, but unconvinced by arguments to change church teaching? Here's what he had to say.

Conservative Catholics complain that liberal Catholics instinctively greet every statement from the Vatican with suspicion. Fair point. Patient attention to the legitimate concerns of others and the presumption of goodwill on the part of those we disagree with are essential virtues. Unfortunately, patience and the presumption of goodwill were not much in evidence in the response of the U.S. bishops to President Obama’s contraception compromise.

Obama's Contraception Compromise

Catholic attitudes toward sex and marriage have shifted dramatically over the past fifty years. How should the church respond, pastorally and doctrinally, to this growing disconnect between official teaching and the practice of individual Catholics?

How persuasively is the church making its case against gay marriage?

Lisa Sowle Cahill’s middle way

Benedict & condoms

The pope on condoms

The church in the public square

How not to settle the gay-marriage question

Extending the argument against sex-selective abortion

A profile of the ethicist Gilbert Meilaender

No, this “Year of the Priest” has not been the best for priests or for any Catholics. Just when some of us thought we might be turning the corner, moving on, re-establishing some level of trust, it turns out the wounds are far deeper and much more widespread than we thought.

Stanley Hauerwas & the Christian Difference

An interview with filmmaker Woody Allen

A gay parent on choosing Catholic school for her kids

Much of Pope Benedict's good work in addressing the sexual-abuse crisis is now likely to be brushed aside as the history of his own negligence in handling an abusive priest when he was archbishop of Munich thirty years ago comes to light.

It is now clear that for more than two decades, simultaneous tragedies of episcopal malfeasance played out in both the U.S. and Irish churches, as bishops in both countries systematically mishandled allegations of child sexual abuse committed by their priests.

A gay Christian speaks to fundamentalists

  Surprising lessons from the Oscar-nominated film ’Juno’

  An exclusive excerpt from his new book.

Does schism loom for the Anglican Communion?

Negotiating the authority of Scripture, tradition & experience

A Review of Margaret Farley's Book 'Just Love'

Can schism be averted?

 Adoption isn’t for everyone—but that has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

  Is the church’s strict ban on condom use in the fight against AIDS morally defensible?

Needy children lose out in the Catholic Charities gay adoption controversy.

  Rome’s "Instruction" on gay seminarians is a failure of hope, writes theologian William McDonough. James Martin, SJ says the document will make gay men think twice about entering the priesthood.

  "Given the church’s teaching that homosexuals are ’objectively disordered,’ barring homosexuals from ordination may be more charitable than subjecting them to the contradictory demands and rigors of an institution that morally chastises them." Rev. Paul Stanosz reports.

  "Closing the priesthood to gay men, an orientation the church recognizes as involuntary and blameless, would be an extreme and unjust step to take," The Editors write. "Solving the ’problem’ in this way . . . is sure to drive gay priests deeper into a clerical closet, with all the potential that entails for moral and psychological damage and eventual scandal."

Rev. Gerard Thomas, a gay priest forced to write under a pseudonym, argues that banning homosexuals from the priesthood would represent a "serious moral error."

From the archives: A response to Paul Griffiths 

From the archives: Why law & morality can part company

From the archives (1993): the debate over gays in the military